Impacts of integrated scheme on livelihood and rural housing condition in Nigeria

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of integrated rural development scheme on livelihood and rural housing condition in selected rural areas in Osun state. This is prompted by the need to develop effective strategy for improving the rural housing condition in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The impacts of the scheme were measured through survey of 344 participants obtained from 28 active communities out of the 36 communities' coverage by Rural Development Programme of Justice Development and Peace Makers's Centre through a multi-stage sampling. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from the respondents. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, correlation and regression analysis. Findings The result revealed that the mode of operation of the integrated scheme is to educate farmers on best farming practices. The integrated scheme had contributed positively to the livelihood of the respondents by providing stable source of finance than any other available finance source options, and it increased assets and skill acquisition and ability to have more combination of livelihood options as a result of the intervention. In addition, the number of respondents without personal accommodation also decreased at a significant proportion after the intervention. Also, notable numbers of respondents have increased access to domestic housing facilities such as, well, pit toilet and electricity. The result of the correlation analysis showed further that respondents with more livelihood assets and larger household size most often have a better housing condition, whereas the regression analysis revealed that change in the household size and change in livelihood assets lead to change in the housing condition. The paper suggest that integrated scheme could be used as a self-financing strategy for both qualitative and quantitative improvement of rural housing in Nigeria if the scheme enjoys the requisite government support in terms of adequacy of finance and more government agency participation for wider coverage. Originality/value The paper is one of the pioneering studies in Nigeria.